Emotional Healing with Somatic Therapy

Emotional healing is the process of meeting, feeling and releasing the emotional wounds, beliefs and patterns we’ve carried since earlier in life, so they stop shaping how we feel and respond today. It isn’t about getting rid of difficult feelings or thinking positively. It’s about changing your relationship with what you feel, so old pain no longer runs your reactions and you’re freer to respond from who you are now.

Somatic therapy may be helpful when you understand your difficulties intellectually but still find yourself caught in the same emotional or behavioural patterns. These might include anxiety, insecurity, shame, people-pleasing, emotional overwhelm, recurring relationship difficulties or feeling disconnected from yourself. It's particularly relevant when your reactions seem to happen automatically – your body tenses, you shut down, you become defensive, or you feel overwhelmed before you've had time to think. Rather than focusing only on the presenting problem, we explore what is happening in your body and emotional experience, and what may be contributing to those recurring responses. The aim isn't to treat every difficulty as a bodily problem, but to include an important dimension that can be missed when we rely on thinking alone.

Talk therapy can help you understand your experiences, identify patterns and develop new perspectives. Those things matter, and somatic therapy doesn't require you to abandon psychological understanding. The difference is that we also pay attention to what happens as you explore an experience. What do you notice in your body? What feelings arise? Do you tense, hold your breath, feel an urge to withdraw, or find yourself becoming overwhelmed? By working with these responses as they occur, we can explore aspects of your experience that may be difficult to reach through conversation alone. The aim is to combine understanding with direct experience, so that change becomes something you feel and live rather than something you only know intellectually.

No. You don't need to relive traumatic events, recall every detail of your past or describe experiences you're not ready to discuss. We begin with what's happening for you now. A present-day trigger, bodily sensation or emotional response may provide enough to work with, without revisiting the original event. Sometimes an earlier memory comes to mind naturally, but we don't force this or assume that finding the original cause is always necessary. If difficult material emerges, we work at a pace you can manage, and you can pause or change direction at any time. The aim is not to make you experience pain more intensely, but to help you develop a different relationship with what arises.

It's understandable to feel apprehensive about exploring experiences you've spent years trying to manage or avoid. You don't need to feel completely confident or emotionally prepared before beginning. An important part of the work is learning to recognise your capacity in each moment. Sometimes that means staying with a feeling for a little longer; at other times, it means slowing down, shifting your attention or stepping back. We don't need to push through distress to make progress. The aim is to develop your ability to be present with difficult feelings without becoming completely caught up in them. Over time, you may become more confident in recognising what you can work with and when you need to pause. If you're currently in crisis or need urgent support, this work isn't a substitute for appropriate immediate help.

You don't need to be naturally body-aware, emotionally expressive or experienced in meditation. Some people notice physical sensations very clearly, while others initially feel numb, disconnected or unsure what they're experiencing. We don't try to manufacture sensations or insist that you should be feeling something. We start with whatever you notice, even if that's simply tension, restlessness, blankness or uncertainty. Sometimes recognising that you feel disconnected is itself a useful starting point. Learning to pay attention to your bodily and emotional experience is part of the work. There's no right way to experience it, and we go at a pace that suits you. If body sensation stays hard to access, IFS therapy offers another way in.

Yes. All of my one-to-one sessions take place via Zoom, and we can explore bodily sensations, emotions, impulses and nervous-system responses without being in the same physical room.
I'll guide you in bringing attention to your experience, noticing what changes and exploring what feels relevant. You remain in control throughout, and we can pause or adjust the process whenever needed. You'll simply need a reasonably private space where you can sit comfortably and focus without interruption. You don't need special equipment or previous experience with body-based practices.

There's no universal timeframe. It depends on your history, the patterns you're working with, your circumstances and what you want from the process. You may notice useful changes within a few sessions, while more deeply established patterns can take many months to explore. Understanding something and beginning to respond differently can happen at different speeds, and meaningful change doesn't always follow a straight line. I offer five-session packages, with sessions normally held weekly. This allows continuity without requiring you to commit to an indefinite programme. Deeper work asks for time and commitment, but you decide how long you continue. The aim is to help you develop a more resourceful relationship with yourself, not to make you dependent on therapy.